Jose Antonio Paez

Jose Antonio Paez (13 June 1790-6 May 1873), known as the "Centaur of the Plains", was President of Venezuela from 1830 to 1835. Formerly the leader of the llaneros, the mounted bandits of the Venezuelan plains, Paez assisted Simon Bolivar's rise to power during the South American Wars of Liberation.

Biography
Jose Antonio Paez was born in Portuguesa State in northwestern Venezuela to a Canarian family. In 1810 he joined a cavalry squadron and assisted the Venezuelan officers fighting for independence. After Simon Bolivar's defeat in 1814, Paez backed him as the leader of the llaneros (mounted bandits of the Venezuelan plains) and provided aid in guerrilla warfare with his cavalry. He assisted him until all Spanish forces were gone from South America and northern South America was united as Gran Colombia.

In 1830, after the death of Bolivar, Paez declared himself President of Venezuela, breaking free from Gran Colombia and forming his own nation. In 1847, when Jose Tadeo Monagas declared himself dictator of Venezuela, Paez attempted to launch a rebellion but Santiago Marino defeated him in the Battle of the Araguatos. In 1850 Paez was exiled but allowed to return in 1858; he died in New York City in the United States in 1873.